1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to: a replacement consumable unit management apparatus which determines a right replacement consumable unit and a right delivery address when a consumable unit loaded on an image forming apparatus is replaced with a new one; and an image forming apparatus which determines a right replacement consumable unit or a right delivery address when a consumable unit loaded on the image forming apparatus itself or another image forming apparatus is replaced with a new one.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following description sets forth the inventor's knowledge of related art and problems therein and should not be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art.
Conventionally, if the remaining consumable resource in a consumable unit loaded on an image forming apparatus such as a digital photo copier, a digital photo printer, or a multifunctional machine called MFP (Multi Function Peripheral), for example, the remaining toner in a toner cartridge is lower than a predetermined level, the image forming apparatus determines that the toner cartridge nearly runs out of toner (the toner cartridge is in toner near empty state) and displays for the user a message stating that the toner cartridge nearly runs out of toner, on a display panel provided thereon. Noticing this message, the user prepares a replacement toner cartridge, or places an order for a replacement toner cartridge if not having any ones in stock.
Meanwhile, in recent years, an image forming apparatus connected with a management apparatus to exchange information with has been more commonly used in a remote management system (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-297969). In many cases, a retailer of image forming apparatuses or a provider of office supplies have their own management apparatus in their own place, in order to collect, store, and manage for their business, various types of information including toner near empty information from a plurality of image forming apparatuses in their users' places. Being connected with the image forming apparatuses, the management apparatus is capable of recognizing that the toner cartridges nearly run out toner and that these are replaced with new ones.
In some cases, the management apparatus is further connected with an order receiving apparatus receiving orders for a replacement toner cartridge (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-271231). In such a case, the management apparatus further transmits an order to the order receiving apparatus, so that a replacement toner cartridge will be delivered to the user. In other words, this is exactly a system to automatically deliver a replacement toner cartridge to users while they need not bother to place an order for it.
Such an automatic order and delivery system is very useful if the manufacturer and the user are in an agreement about billing and payment for the use of an image forming apparatus. In accordance with such an agreement, the user pay a service fee for making one copy, which includes a charge for the toner used for the copy. That is, it is convenient for the user to pay a service fee simply depending on the number of copies regardless of how many replacement toner cartridges they ordered and have a replacement toner cartridge automatically delivered without the need for placing an order for it. At the same time, the manufacturer can expect a benefit from saving the costs of handling order transactions.
However, while acquiring a benefit from saving the costs of the labor to handle order transactions, the manufacturer still pay the costs of delivering a replacement toner cartridge, using an automatic order and delivery system in which a management apparatus automatically places an order for it based on a condition about remaining toner level (for example, toner near empty information or toner cartridge replacement information).
For example, it is not preferred in terms of cost-effectiveness that the management apparatus receives such information repeatedly from four toner cartridges loaded on a color image forming apparatus, and automatically outputs a delivery instruction again and again. Actually, the four toner cartridges are supposed to randomly run out of toner and some of them may run out of toner nearly at the same tome. If necessary replacement toner cartridges are delivered together in one package, the manufacturer will save the costs of delivery. On the other hand, if necessary replacement toner cartridges are delivered together in one package, the user will need to keep a larger space for storing them.
In order to resolve this conflict, there is a demand for a delivery control technology which can save the costs of delivery without requiring the user to keep a larger space to store delivered replacement toner cartridges.
Such a delivery control technology should be applied to not only the consumable units of a particular type which consume their consumable resources for making copies just like the toner cartridges which consume their toner for making copies, but also the consumable units of another particular type which partially get near to their ends of life due to making copies just like the imaging units including photoreceptor drums, photoreceptors of which get near to their ends of life due to making copies.
Actually, in addition to toner cartridges, the image forming apparatuses also load consumable units of other types: a transfer belt unit, photoreceptor units, developer units, fuser units, and the like which need to be replaced with new ones in their respective predetermined manners. The manufacturer's technical staff called service engineers usually visit their users to replace the consumable units of that type having gotten old. If it is determined around at the same time that a service engineer should be sent to a user's place to replace a consumable unit such as a transfer belt having ended its life and an instruction to deliver a replacement toner cartridge should be outputted according to the need, there possibly will be inconveniences as to be described in the following cases.
[Case-1]
A service engineer may visit the user's place and replace both the transfer belt unit and the toner cartridge with new ones at the same time before the user receive a replacement toner cartridge which was automatically shipped out by the manufacturer according to the delivery instruction.
Receiving the replacement toner cartridge, without noticing that the toner cartridge has been replaced with a new one, the user may further replace the new toner cartridge with the received replacement toner cartridge, wasting the toner almost fully contained in the new toner cartridge.
Even if noticing that the toner cartridge has been replaced with a new one, the user would need to have in stock the received replacement toner cartridge. And the next time there is a need to replace a toner cartridge, the user receives another replacement toner cartridge which is automatically shipped out by the manufacturer and always needs to keep one replacement toner cartridge in stock.
In order to resolve this inconvenience, the service engineers will need to operate the delivery system to enter and correct the stock quantities of their users. However, it would be troublesome for them to check whether or not a delivery instruction has been outputted and operate the delivery system to correct a stock quantity if it has been outputted, everytime after replacing both a transfer belt unit and a toner cartridge, or they probably would even forget going through that process.
[Case-2]
A service engineer may visit the user's place and replace only the transfer belt unit with a new one before the user receives a replacement toner cartridge which was automatically shipped out by the manufacturer according to the delivery instruction. Receiving the replacement toner cartridge and noticing that the toner cartridge has not been replaced with a new one, the user may be unhappy with that the service engineer did not care about the toner cartridges.
As described above, the inconveniences: the costs of stock check, the costs of stock keeping, and bad user experience possibly will be caused.
The manufacturer's service engineers may, visit their users not only to replace old consumable units but also to clean and check the image forming apparatuses, at regular time intervals. The same holds true in this case, too; the same inconveniences possibly will be caused since such a service engineer also may replace both a transfer belt unit and a toner cartridge with new ones or replace only a transfer belt unit with a new one, before the user receives a replacement toner cartridge.
In order to resolve the inconveniences, it is only necessary that the service engineers visit their users for consumable unit replacement and/or a routine service, carrying a replacement toner cartridge which is supposed to be delivered via courier according to a delivery instruction.
Despite people have been waiting for a technology to resolve the inconveniences: the costs of delivery, the costs of stock check, the costs of stock keeping, and bad user experience, such a technology is not disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Applications No. 2002-297969 and No. 2008-271231 and other conventional inventions which have a management apparatus manage toner cartridges loaded on image forming apparatuses and output an instruction to deliver a replacement toner cartridge according to the need.
The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of various features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in other publications is in no way intended to limit the present invention. Indeed, certain features of the invention may be capable of overcoming certain disadvantages, while still retaining some or all of the features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein.